Shiny things

[Ooogh]

I am constantly bewildered by our affection for shiny things.

 

I just spent the whole of yesterday on my hands and knees polishing every crevice of my motorcycle ‘s acres of alloy and chrome. Today it is raining so I won’t go for a ride, not because I am scared of the cold but because I don’t want to get mud on my super shiny bike.

 

When it comes to hifi I love valves, not just because they sound better to my ear but because I find them aesthetically pleasing.  If I had the choice of an equally good valve amp at a lower price with it’s valves hidden away in the interior or a flash shiny one proudly displaying it’s little light bulbs I would suffer the price difference , within reason. 
 

There are motorbikes that go better, stop better, handle better and ride smoother than mine for the same money but I have zero interest because they look bloody awful. 
 

I think that numerous Hifi manufacturers have realised just how shallow many of us are. I see $10k amplifiers with a $5k  chassis that I am sure does absolutely nothing to improve the sound no matter what ‘milled from a single piece of aluminium with anodised knobs’  is declared to achieve. 

 

Why are we so obsessed with aesthetic beauty from a functional device? Why do we fall for this sleight of hand even when we know how the trick works?  
 

I have included some pictures of my Uber clean bike , simply because it is really, really good looking.  Also a picture of Rey , because she is simply wonderful. Oh, and to feed my ego. It would appear I have answered the question! Advice, buy really ugly stuff for much less money and take a holiday to the Bahamas with the change. 
 

BTW, Royal Enfield’s are really good looking, really good and really cheap!